Michael Brown replies to John MacArthur's Strange Fire

[hopeinGod]

Anyone else listening to Michael Brown's reply to John MacArthur's book that condemns the entire Charismatic Movement called Strange Fire?

Michael has replied in written form, in a 420 page book entitled Authentic Fire: A Response to John MacArthur's Strange Fire. I'm finding it very stimulating as I listen to Michael expound as much as he can over his program that airs in Tampa between 2 pm and 4 pm without giving away all that he's written in his book.

So much I want to say when the phone lines are opened, but with him being in India and being so excited about his present work both there and in regard to setting the body of Christ straight concerning the good that has come out of the Charismatic Movement, there usually isn't much time to get a call through to him.

His emphasis yesterday was on those who condemn certain personalities in the faith simply because of their momentary association with a clergyman who spouts error. To use an old phrase, he says you don't throw out the baby with the bath water just because a brother in the Lord sits at a table with an error driven minister during a conference. Condemnation by brief association is what it comes down to. And many of these judgments come after links are discovered via a search through centuries of documented events.

Even Martin Luther would have been whole-heartedly condemned by the brethren today for his faults, and there were plenty of examples of his errors, many of which Michael mentions in his book. For instance, Luther put down black people pretty hard. Other examples can be found in Michael's latest writing.

Finally, someone has put on paper all that we've been debating here for years. I feel I could have written that book, and should have; but then, I also I have an extremely demanding career.

 

[Alive_Again]

It's better to examine doctrine rather than doing anything even close to "throwing out the baby" for their mistakes. It's safer not to mention names even and we're not going around condemning what people preach, we're advocating for truth. A "sideways glance" at common errors along the way might be helpful, but if you're just taking on somebody, your focus is on the wrong person.

I remember when it was first discussed here and I went and looked some of what John was saying. It was obviously misguided and profoundly ignorant. However, when the guy I work with that likes John brought up the conference, I made a judgmental remark about his presumptuous errors (no doubt true). The Holy Spirit immediately made me go to the "back of the class" for such an outburst. You really have to be called to speak and just being right isn't the only measuring stick.

I haven't heard of the book or the program you're mentioning, and maybe this is just one of those, but we must not confuse a doctrinal comparison with a cart blanche freedom to "spread the word" about certain individuals in the body. We know from personal experience that the non-Spirit filled believers couldn't possibly understand what we know without first bearing witness to it and then experiencing it.

Many respected preachers in the evangelical camp haven't a clue about the anointing or spiritual gits. While they might not go after the practitioners of these things openly, they are so obviously misguided, that a word of correction is seldom needed.

It's the "religious politics" thing and we all need to be careful about it. I think most of us already know the answers to many of these preachers criticisms. You still have to respect the preacher for what he's doing in the body to get people saved.

We should pray for them who cause destruction and confusion because the power of prayer can deal directly with individuals such as these and put them on a track to an awakening.

 

[hopeinGod]

I will admit to being so disgusted with both evangelicalism and the Charismatic movement that I tossed it all aside for my own spiritutal safety and sanity.

Having actually been a victim of the extremism that has overtaken the C.M., propelled primarily by a "Spirit only" mentality with little Word to support it, I fled at the first sign of the body turning to the ridiculous as proof of God's signs and wonders. And why not, when it is the foolish things of the world that the Lord uses to confound the wise? How much more confirmation would one want when such a verse encourages the ridiculous?

Evangelical doctrine, at the same time, does not allow for any movement whatsoever, but instead insists on there being no such thing. I attended a Reformation conference held in Orlando not long ago to see one of my favorite apologists, Ravi Zacharias. Wouldn't you know, he was the last man to speak over those three days. Cost per person? If I remember correctly, $169. Luckily, I won two tickets for being the second person to call a local radio program.

In all that time, not a moment of it was anointed. Sure, the insights were thoughtful while remaining within certain bounds, but there was absolutely no movement of God's Spirit. In fact, I was sure God stayed home since He really wasn't invited.

I purchased Brown's book yesterday and look forwatd to receiving it.
Dave

 

[Alive_Again]

So how's the book?

 

[hopeinGod]

Worth the donation, AA. I gave a $10 donation.

The contents contain chapters titled:
A "collective war' against Charismatics
Rejecting the strange fire, embracing the authentic fire
A great big blind spot
The genetic fallacy and the error of guilt by association
Testing the spirits: another look at the the evidence
Sola Scriptura and therefore Charismatic
Shall we burn one another at the stake?
Spirit and truth, right brain and left brain
A God to be experienced
Moving forward after strange fire

And it includes ongoing evidence of miracles, with thoughts on African Charismatic Christianity, a response to the most frequent cessationist argument, asks did the Authentic Fire of the First Century cease?, and provides a mission perspective on Charismatics and Cessationists